Device for controlling boats



Aug. 17 1926. 1,596,009

0. EVINRUDE DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING BOATS Filed May 9. 1925 Jz/wzZo-r 6k Mkwade 19 J w QMM M Pr WWW,

Patented Aug. 17, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLE EVINRUDE, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB T ELTO OUTBOARD MOTOR 00., OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING BOATS.

Application filed May 9, 1925. Serial No. 29,007.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for controlling boats.

In throttling down. power boats to a speed adaptable for trolling, difiiculty has been ex 6 perienced heretofore on account of the motor stalling at such slow speed, in which event the fishing tackle and lines sink, to the bottom until the motor is started again. When the motor is throttled down for this purpose, 1 furthermore, practically all control of the boat is lost in rough water and heavy winds.

One of the objects of the present invention, therefore, is to provide an improved device which is adapted to oppose forward movement of a boat under the action of the propelling means or motor therefor, so that the boat will be held back to the proper speed for trolling although the motor may be running at its normal or an increased 29 rate. Another object is to provide an improved device of the character described which is adapted to be attached to the rudder of a boat and which opposes the forward movement of the latter under the action of the ropeller therefor and acts tq steady the boat in rough water and heavy winds.

Another object is to provide an improved device of the character described which is simple, durable, which may be readily attached to and detached from the rudder .for a boat, and which may be manufactured at a comparatively small cost. a

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings the device has been shown attached to the rudder of an outboard motor of the type shown and described in my copending application, Serial No. 722,885 filed June 28, 1924, but it is to be understood that the invention is of much broader adaptation and may be used in other connections, the device only being shown in connection with an outboard motor for the purpose of illustration.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sideKelevation, showing the improved device applied to the rudder of an outboard motor;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of'Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the parts comprising the device in position about to be clamped to the rear edge of the rudder;

plates 1 and 2 provided, respectively, with lugs 3 and 4 cast integrally therewith and provided with registering apertures 5 through Y which pins or rivets 6 pass for pivotally connecting the plates together whereby the same may be arranged in intersecting planes with their respective front edges 7 and 8 in close relation. The plates 1 and 2 are provided with rearwardly extending arms 9 and 10, respectively, the free ends 11 and 12 of the arms being arranged back of pins 6, as shown in Fig. 2. A cam member 13 provided with an actuating lever 14 and a cam portion 15 having a straight edge 16 is provided with an aperture 17 arranged adjacent the straight edge 16, as shown 1n Fig. 6, to receive a suitable pin 18 for pivotally connecting the cam member to the free end 12 of arm 10, the lower reduced end 19 of the pin having a press fit in a suitable opening in arm 10 and being riveted over, as shown. Reinforcing flanges 20 may be cast integrally with plates 1 and 2 and connect lugs 3 and 4 with arms 9 and 10, as shown.

In applying the device to rudder 21 of the outboard motor 22, cam member 13 is moved by means of actuating lever 14 thereof to the position shown in Fig. 3, inwhich position the straight edge 16 of cam portion 15 is positioned opposite the free end 11 of arm 9 to permit outward pivotal movement of plates 1 and 2 and separation of the respective front edges 7 and 8 thereof, edges 7 and 8 being separated sufficiently to permit the device to be. applied to the rear edge of rudder 21, as shown. Cam ,member 13 is then swung in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 2, whereby cam portion 15 engages free end 11 of arm 9 to urge front edges 7 and 8 of plates 1 and 2 together to clamp the device securely in position upon thereby in fixed angular relation with 1:0-

spect to each other and the rear edge of rudder 21 clamped firmly between lugs 3 and 4: and the front edges 7 and 8 of the plates, as shown. In this position of the cam member, the normal to the point of contact-of cam portion 15 with the free end 11 of arm 9 passes through the center of pin 18, or to the right thereof, as viewed in Fig. 2, whereby the cam member is held in locking posiare in the plane of the paper acting to hold back and oppose forward movement of the boat so that the latter moves forward at a speed sufficiently slow for trolling, although propeller 26 may be running at normal or even an increased speed. The horizontal components of the aforesaid force which are transverse to theplane of the paper act to hold the boat on its course, these'lcomponents increasing in value on one side and decreasing in value on the other side a corresponding amount as rudder 21 is turned in the corresponding direction about its pivots, the result being that in travelling in rough water and against a quarter-wind the boat will be held on its course by the action of the water forced rearwardly by the propeller against either of the plates 1 and 2, as the case ma be. It will thus be seen that a device has een provided which may be readily attached to and detached from the rudder of a boat and which acts to control the same and to hold the speed thereof down to a point adaptable for trolling although the motor and propeller driven thereby may be running at full speed.

The plates 1 and 2 have been shown as being formed separately from the propeller, but of course the plates may be formed as part of the propeller and may be cast or formed integrally therewith, such changes being obvious to those skilled in the art and well within the scope of the invention, as defined by the claims. The plates, furthermore, may be applied to other parts of the boat as well as to the rudder. Various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of the parts comprising the device may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates and means adapted to secure the latter to the rudder of a boat and to hold said plates in position to oppose forward movement of said boat.

2. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates pivotally connected together whereby the same may be arranged in intersecting planes with their respective front edges in gripping engagement with a submerged member, and means associated with said device and adapted to hold said plates in gripping engagement with said member and in fixed angular re lationwith respect to each other.

8. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates pivotally connected together whereby the same may be arranged in intersecting planes with their respective front edges in close relation, and means including a cam associated with said device and adapted to hold said plates in fixed angular relation with respect to each other.

4. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates, means pivotally connecting said plates together whereby the same may be arranged in intersecting planes with their respective front edges in close relation, one of said plates being provided with an arm extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said arm being arranged back of said means, and a cam member carried by said other plate and adapted and arranged to engage said free end of said arm to urge said front edges of said plates together and to hold said plates in fixed angular relation with respect to each other.

5. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates, each of said plates being provided with spaced lugs, said lugs being provided with registering apertures, pins passing through said apertures whereby said plates are pivotally connected together for arrangement in intersecting planes with their respective front edges in close relation, arms extending rearwardly from said plates with their free ends arranged back of said pins, and means carried by one of said arms at the free end thereof and adapted upon movement to a given position to coact with the free end of said other arm to urge said front edges of said plates together and to hold said plates in fixed angular relation with respect to each other and upon movement to a different position to permit relative pivotal movement of said plates and separation of said front edges thereof.

-6. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plates, each of saidranged back of said pins, and a cam member pivotally connected to one of said arms at the free end thereof and adapted upon movement to a given position to coact with the free end of said other arm to urge said front edges of said plates together and to hold said plates in fixed an lar relation with respect to each other an upon movement to a different position to permit relative pivotal movement of said plates and separation of said front edges thereof.

7. The combination with a boat, a pro peller therefor, means for driving said propeller, and a rudder arranged rearwardly of said propeller, of aplate arranged on each side of said rudder at an angle thereto and adapted to change the direction of flow of the water forced rearwardly by said propeller, and means for securing said plates to said rudder.

8. The combination with a boat, a propeller therefor, means for driving said propeller, and a rudder arranged rearwardly of said propeller, of a plate arranged on each side of said rudder at an angle thereto, means pivotally connecting said plates and arranged back of the front edges thereof, and means arranged rearwardl of said firstmentioned means and adapted to urge said front edges of said plates together to clamp said device to said rudder and to .hold said plates in fixed angular relation with respect to each other.

In witness whereof I hereto afiix my signature.

OLE EVINRUDE. 

